Hello, I got the dreaded warning that one of my disks was disabled and the contents emulated tonight. I'm attaching the diagnostics so someone with more know-how can direct me to how best proceed.

Thank you.

starryskynet-diagnostics-20260614-0203.zip

It's not logged as a disk problem and SMART looks fine, so most likely a power/connection issue.

Check/replace cables for that disk, then start the array, confirm the emulated disk is still mounting, and if yes and contents look correct you can then rebuild on top

https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/using-unraid-to/manage-storage/array/replacing-disks-in-array/#re-enabling-a-disabled-disk-rebuilding-onto-itself

Hello, update: I checked the connections and THOUGHT I found the SATA cable a bit loose on the disk in question (I emphasis thought because it's also possible I imagined it because I'm so desperate for a solution and it was the first disk's connections I checked). I re-pressed all the connections in, and started the re-build hoping this was my issue. When there wasn't an error some 12%~ into the rebuild, I felt comfortable stepping away for a few hours.

When I returned, I saw the awful news that another disk (Disk 1) has now been disabled as well. The rebuild on the initial disabled disk is still ongoing without issue (?), but I am attaching the new diagnostics so someone can advise. Should I let the rebuild continue or stop it? Does the second disabled drive hint toward some other overall issue?

Thank you.

starryskynet-diagnostics-20260614-1719.zip

Edited June 15Jun 15 by Pluvichor

Also looks like a power/connection issue with disk1. Any power splitters in use?

Yes, I'm using cables to daisy chain two disks together. To be specific, I previously had trouble (that you helped me identity) a while back with the disks on my main NAS box being daisy-chained to 4-5 drives per cable. In an effort to reduce these connections (and because it seemed like having this many disks chained together on one cable was causing my disabled disk troubles), I reduced the amount of disks chained together to a max of 2 per cable. My PSU has 6 SATA connections in the back, and so 12 drives in the main box, 2 per cable to the PSU, seemed like the best way to split them up.

Disk 6 (the original disabled drive) is still rebuilding, currently at 54%~. I am inclined to finish waiting for it to finish rebuilding before I stop the server again to re-check the connections. I'm just really hoping I don't get another disabled disk between now and then, but so far, it's just Disk 1 that's gone rogue.

This is kind of a long-shot, but a month back when I was last dealing with disabled disks because of PSU issues, I ran out of Corsair branded power cables that came with the PSU (the PSU is a Corsair 1600i) and, in a pinch, I used a generic power cable I had in my drawer (I noted the pins looked different from the ones that came with the PSU). I know Corsair can be finicky when it comes to using the correct power cables because of their pins, but I figured I'd try the cable and see if the server powered on normally without error -- and save myself the money and waiting time on a new cable delivery if it did. The server did work then, and worked fine in the month since, so I figured I was in the clear, but is there any chance my current disabled disk issues are somehow related to that cable being used in the server? I won't know for sure until I power down and inspect the connections, but I don't think the disks I'm currently dealing with (6 & 1) are connected to that cable (the disks that were giving me trouble last month were 4 & 5). For that matter, these disks 1 and 6 are not chained together (I believe disks 1 & 2 are chained together, and 6 is chained to 3).

Sorry, I know the above paragraph is a lot of info to parse. Just figured I throw it out there in case it is relevant. Thank you for any guidance.

Edited June 15Jun 15 by Pluvichor
Clarifying info.

You can try at least to replace the cables/splitters for the affected disks, then try rebuilding again (check that the emulated disks are still mounting and contents look correct before rebuilding on top)

Update a day later: Disk 6 finished rebuilding and got to rechecking the connections (I wondered if in moving the server back to its place in the closet, a connection was jostled and came loose). Nothing seemed fishy. I ordered a new power cable that's due to arrive in a few days. Between now and then, I thought I'd try rebuilding Disk 1, but before that--

I rebooted the server and noticed that it took a loong while for the login screen to become available on my desktop. Usually, it pops up within around a minute of powering on the server. This time it took 5 minutes+. Long enough that I considered cutting power and rebooting it again -- but the login screen appeared and I figured it was just a slow startup. I decided to update the server OS (7.2.4 -> 7.3.1) and that required another server restart. Except this time, I've been sitting waiting for the login screen to pop up again, but it's been 15+ minutes and still nada. I'm hesitant to cut power and try rebooting again because I'm not sure if that may affect the OS update.

My gut intuition is to just let the server sit for however long it needs to finish rebooting, in the hopes that this wait is because of the server acting very slowly. I'm basing this off a previous episode, wherein I had a disabled disk in the array, and I noted that alongside that, my server was behaving extremely slowly... a slowness that completely went away when the disabled disk issue was resolved.

Something else I'm wondering about, is there any chance my current issues (disabled disks and slow server startup) are related to my boot USB? I haven't replaced it since I built the server in July 2022. Any chance it's due for replacement and causing these issues? Or do the diagnostics indicate otherwise?

Any advice for how to proceed is greatly appreciated.

Edited June 16Jun 16 by Pluvichor

After about an hour of waiting, decided to manually reboot the server. The login screen popped up pretty quickly and my heart froze when I saw the setup screen following login, but I pressed skip and my settings look normal. Going to download a boot backup and attaching diagnostics just in case anyone wants to have a look (is the boot USB okay?). Next step is to try rebuilding Disk 1.

starryskynet-diagnostics-20260615-2054.zip

Sorry for the repeat-posting, but want to provide an important update!

It wasn't long into attempting to rebuild Disk 1 that the disk was disabled again. I figured I'd stop the array and restart it in maintenance mode to run checks on the disks, but when I stopped the array, Disk 2 is also disabled (albeit it, because the array is stopped, Unraid hasn't warned me yet, but both disks have a red X under the Main tab.

These two disks are daisy-chained together so I assume it is their power connector that is the issue.

Attaching the diagnostics. Thank you.

starryskynet-diagnostics-20260615-2131.zip

I am facepalming so hard right now.

So I finally bothered to open up my server and look at the power cables themselves, and not just the connections attached to the disks. Both of the two groups of disks that have been giving me problems (the daisy chains of Disks 1&2 and Disks 3&6) are attached to an additional extender cable (I don't know the name, I'll attach a picture) that were then attached to the disks. I must have attached these extenders years ago, because I don't remember doing so at all -- in the era when I wanted to daisy chain most of my drives to one cable instead of splitting them up). It seems beyond coincidence that the two groups of disks that have been given me grief happen to be the ones that were attached to these extenders. I have begun rebuilding Disk 1. Fingers crossed it was these damn extenders that were the cause of my current (and older????) issues.

You should never use those, a SATA plug should never be split into more than two max.

This may be premature, but I've rebuilt Disk 1 and Disk 2 is at about 75%~ without any further issues. It looks like those extenders were the problem, and I still can't believe how long they've been in my server and potentially causing issues. Thanks again for the help, Jorge.